Red Lake!

 

Daryl and I enjoyed a quiet week at home, while the kids (all 4!) spent the week at Papa and Grandma’s! I think we all enjoyed our week, although Grandma probably worked the hardest. At the end of the week Daryl and I drove up and spent the long weekend there. It was such a beautiful weekend!

A Quiet Day at Home

 

Our first little harvest! So exciting!

The girls begged and begged to wear their dresses from India to play outside. Finally I relented and made some conditions. Once they had the dresses on, they switched into different roles and did they ever have a great time. Love their creativity.

 

Birthdays in July

As soon as we got home from our trip, it was time to plan birthday parties. Our kids don’t often have a lot of friends over, so we told them they could this year. Whew! Glad I don’t do that every year, but it was fun for this time! 🙂

Anna-Christina’s birthday came first (her 12th which made it her “golden” birthday!). She had almost all the girls in her class over for a camp-out. They played flashlight tag, made s’mores around the fire, and slept in the tent. Great fun!

 She chose the same birthday cake as last year: Auntie Karla’s cheesecake with fruit topping! 

Olivia’s 10th birthday was next with her classmates! They played water games and pretty much just had fun outside. There was a lot of screaming. And sugar.

 

 

 

July

In July we bought a tent trailer and went on vacation! We headed to South Dakota and enjoyed camping in Mt Rushmore park. Beautiful hot days and cool nights.

Bison in Custer State Park. 

On my parents’ 40th anniversary we got to go to the church where they got married, in Kansas. Very special.

A morning of horseback riding at Uncle Willis’ farm. Adrienne and Papa…she was a little nervous. 

Then it was off to the Ira Miller Family reunion! Here is me and my dear Granny:

 

These photos were taken about 10 minutes after leaving the reunion! 🙂

…and home again where my peonies were almost done blooming!

June

 

In June I had the pleasure of attending a weekend called Becoming An Outdoors Woman. I like to think that I was already an outdoors woman before I went to this “seminar”, but hey, I knew there was a lot I could learn. 🙂

I realize now in this picture that I am not holding my shotgun properly for shooting moving targets, but someone gave me a gun and told me to pose!

It was great fun to do lots of target practice and other fun things, and to hang out with women who are passionate about the outdoors. There were a few ladies there who only eat wild meat, and that means they must hunt and fish. Very interesting personalities gathered at a place like that, but here was my favourite lady there, my friend Rachelle:

 

June was also CRAZY with soccer. Not sure I want to repeat that schedule any time soon. Four kids in soccer meant 4 nights/week at the soccer field(s). It was fun to see the girls make progress in their skills though, and it was a fun way to meet people in the community.

The big girls’ team ended up winning gold in the tournament!

A beautiful cecropia moth that finally came out of the chrysalis we kept last summer! Isn’t it amazing!

Chickens!

 

Our beautiful chickens that decided to fly the coop. We were starting to really like these crazy things. They were doing so well and sticking close by that we left them alone to peck and scratch…and they flew off. We’ll try again after we build a proper enclosure for them. 

May

 

In May we enjoyed a few days with Rhonda’s kids (while she was traveling) and my dad and mom. We went bird watching with our personal guides (my parents) and saw 51 species that day. It was fun and I was pleased that all the kids got into it. Papa rewarded their efforts with ice cream at the end of the day.

The front of my Mother’s Day card from Adrienne (above)

…and the back. Yes, we got chicks in May!

Easter

 

In March/April we enjoyed having Grandpa and Grandma S. here for Easter long weekend. One of the highlights was planting our seeds for the garden. Look at all the snow…talk about faith! We had a great time with them, and I’ll save them the embarrassment of posting the pictures of the two of them after the girls put Grandpa’s hair in a ponytail, and piled the lipstick on Grandma. They were really good sports about it all. 🙂

Things

* it is most definitely winter here! I’m realizing what a wimp I’ve become by living away from Manitoba for 4 years. The other day it was about -18C and someone said to me, “Yeah, this isn’t bad. If it stays like this I can handle it”. I thought to myself, “Are you serious?” I felt extremely cold.

* the kids LOVE their new school. It absolutely amazes me when I hear that they’ve laid hands on each other to pray for healing for sickness, that they’re singing scripture, and that they are raising money for a family in the school that needs it. Obviously no school is perfect, but I am thrilled to know that the people who are teaching my kids math and science are also Godly role-models. I definitely struggled with whether or not to homeschool this year again, but so far we are very happy with our decision.

* we are getting new carpet put in the basement today! I forgot to take a “before” picture. Let’s just say it was most likely the original carpet from when the house was built in the ’70’s. And it stank. Let’s hear 3 cheers from the family members who have to sleep on the floor this Christmas! 🙂

* it’s date night tonight! Daryl and I haven’t been out alone since we moved here (4 months?! That is way too long!) Daryl took charge of that and got the number for a girl who babysits for our friends, called her and made arrangements all on his own! WOW! I was impressed!

* so far I am not lonely out here in the sticks. I just love the silence. We also have lots of great neighbors that aren’t too far away. A couple weekends ago we got to visit with a few of them on different occasions. We are really trying to get to know them and not just live beside them like we’ve so often done.

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